Wallabies coach Michael Cheika believes rugby league convert Ben Te'o will be a major factor for England in the upcoming Test series and wishes the centre was in green and gold, not white and red. 
Te'o has arrived in Australia as part of the England squad under Eddie Jones after switching to rugby after South Sydney's NRL premiership victory in 2014. He has since played 40 games for Irish outfit Leinster before taking up an offer with Worcester. Cheika already has league convert Karmichael Hunt on course to make his Test debut despite battling with a groin injury that restricted his training.
He would have liked Te'o at his disposal as well, saying there were talks to try and get the former Bronco and Rabbitoh to link with an Australian Super Rugby club.
Where Te'o would have slotted in to the pecking order remains to be seen, given the amount of midfield options Cheika has up his sleeve. But he values an athlete like Te'o, who carries the ball fiercely into contact and has taken the kind of front-on defence that served him in league over to his new code.
"Yeah I do [rate him highly]," Cheika said. "I wouldn't hesitate to say that we tried to get him to come back and play in Super Rugby here but as we've seen before, the English game has more money."
Te'o may struggle to force his way into the starting side for the first Test but Jones has been bullish about the 29-year-old's prospects as the English head into camp at Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast. Plus, a full crowd at Suncorp Stadium will be old hat given his experience with the Queensland State of Origin team.